Logicless Logic

The Byzantine Academy

For as long as I can remember, I have been serving my time in this Academy. It has probably been around eleven years since, and I am still running strong, or at least I am made to believe so. Just a year back, they were telling me, "One more obstacle son, and you'll be on your way to greatness". I took their words seriously, and now a year later I hear those same words thrown at me. This is supposedly my 'last' obstacle again. If I make it through, I will be on my way to greatness, else, I face the gallows. After all, the Kulliye motto was "Praestantia et perscitus". Those who did not fit into the category were shipped to the regions we read about in our texts, regions such as those inhabited by the "Children of the Ham" (Margaret Atwood). This highly efficient nation of Kulliye is run by the best and only the best, and flaws are not tolerated.

The Academy plays host to a population of 1000 students aged 17 to 20. Each student is given 2 years to get through the 'obstacle'. However, every year, there are a few who have requested for an additional year after failing to meet the Academy's requirements in their first year. The Byzantine Academy is one of the many Academies in Kulliye that would conduct the 'obstacle' at the end of the year. Everyone trains hard to partake in this 'obstacle' in hopes of achieving a good enough result. Now you might ask where do I come in. Well, I am just another participant in this rat race that all of us have been conscripted into.

Perhaps I was too blatant in saying I was "just another participant", because I am not. I am a participant, but I wish to part-icipate from this system. Unfortunately, that is out of the question. There is no such option, or at least not here in Kulliye. Furthermore, the Byzantine Academy seems somewhat at odds with my own beliefs and I often find myself in trouble with the ijazats, or what one would consider the educators of the Academy. It is even worse when there is no room for debate and when the ijazats are adament on their jurisdiction. Just one more offence and I might be looking into the eyes of a child of the Ham.

A memory. I am suddenly haunted by the image of a sea of faces. Faces, faces and more faces. Faces attached to a calm blue sea. Abusurdity. It must be the sun taking its toll on me. This image, I sense some familiarity, perhaps on a newsletter I read before. I was so alluring, then.

A few weeks ago, I committed my first offence. I was late for a lesson and I was not in-sync with the rest of the population. 'In-sync' seems to be the 'in'-thing nowadays. After all, it is what the Academy preaches. "In-sync," I whisper to myself, it does have a nice ring to it. I was eventually made to skip the lesson and undergo a 'counsel' session. It was in an extremely dark room. Or at least it seemed extremely dark. The ijazat boomed into my ears questioning my morals and my qualifications. Without expecting any answers from the questioning, he immediately turned to the wall on my left where there was a trap door. The extreme heat of the Sun immediately hit my face as the trap door fell open with the press of a button. That was my punishment.

If only I could tell the ijazat what really was the case. It would not matter much to him either way, I suppose.

Today was my second offence, also my second last offence. I wrote outside of the circle. Ever since the introduction of the phrase "outside the box", a miniscule few have overstepped the boundary and caused chaos in Kulliye. Perhaps they were not aware of the implicit, "but within the circle on the outside the box". So now they have made it explicit for all of us. Now, the Academy preaches "thinking outside the box, but within the circle on the outside of the box". It allows us to establish constructive imagination without ruining our future. It appears to be working extremely well with everybody. Else.

So I wrote an essay and it was deemed outside the circle. It had serious implications. The Academy has had preceedingly excellent results at the 'obstacle' and they were expectant of my year. Supposedly a better year than the many years before. If I were to do the same and write out of the circle during the 'obstacle', it would spell disaster for the Byzantine Academy. The Academy would suffer huge losses and the ijazats will be under fire. The Academy just want what is best for her students. I was told, "if everyone can follow this formula, start each paragraph with a topic sentence, counter argue, end with a proper conclusion, then you will receive the bounties awaiting you after overcoming the 'obstacle'".

I am not too sure how long I have left in the Academy. Even if I can persevere for another 6 months and successfully tackle the 'obstacle', would I be capable of being in-sync with the Kulliye system. After all, I live in a world of structures. High-rise buildings, underground offices, circular observatories, structures. This world of systems, structures, is one you would never comprehend.


Zixiang's attempt at a literary construction of an 'other world', inclusive of literary techniques we learn in lit class (e.g. satire, irony, parallelism).

Inspiration drawn from The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood), Brave New World (Alduous Huxley), Wikipedia.

posted by justin @ 8:17 PM